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Topic: Procedure with restore and re-install (Read 5177 times)

I've had quite a few interesting problems with packages on my pfS 1.2.2. Now I have problems shutting down FreeSWITCH (just won't shut down, according to services status page), getting Bandwidthd to show anything (has worked earlier) to name a few. And then there were the problems with imspector that somehow worked or didn't worked depending on whether or not FreeSWITCH was installed. Quite weird and I'm afraid also quite worrying.

I'd like to hear some comments on restoraton procedures.

I would like to re-install pfS on HDD since I will want to use a few(er) number of packages, like FreeRADIUS, tftp and imspector.

If I backup config "ALL", reinstall pfS and restore config from file, am I home free and/or what are the chances of remaining issues? I guess there must eb a number of people here that have performed this operation several times.

Obviously I will NOT want to having to enter all config again, like all FW stuff, it's quite much and I would like to trust backup/restore procedures for that one.

When it comes to packages, should I make sure I have the same packages installed when I perform the config backup as when I perform the restore? I mean if the backup contain configs for packages and I then don't reinstall all packages perhaps something will brake?

The package manager, what exactly is backup up there, the packages' configs?

There are some different details in the procedure here with restore, backup, install vs re-install with/without packages that would be interesting to see some comments on.

ALSO: a question - if I would like to keep all collected traffic data, like the ones shown in RRD graphs, how do I do?

For the RRD data, search the forum. I know that I asked the question some time ago and got a very good answer. Try searching 'rrd backup'

As for the normal backup and clearing up your issues - I would start by uninstalling your packages (unless they have a very detailed config within them) and then do a backup. The reason is that the restore process will re-install necessary packages that were installed when you took the backup. By removing the packages before the backup, you should be able to do a clean install, restore, maybe a reboot, and be all set to reinstall packages.

If, on the other hand you need the packages to be backed up, I would at a minimum recommend uninstalling the ones that do not have a detailed config. I recently tried to update from one 1.2.3 snapshot to another with the squid package installed and could not get the system up and running again.

Thanx. I found your post, but the one replying to you asked you too to search for earlier threads I didn't really find those myself though. There were a few good pointers and verifications in that thread though and I'll make a note of it.

Not that it matters quite yet, but you may be interested in knowing that in 2.0, the RRD data can be backed up in the XML file that you get from the WebGUI, so it can also be restored.

Other things to note:* Remove the packages you don't want before you make your final backup. The settings will still be in the config xml (you can edit them out) but unless you uninstall the package, it will get reinstalled after the restore is finished.* You should be able to put the config on a FAT formatted USB stick in <drive letter>:\cf\conf\config.xml - The installer is supposed to pick up on this and install with that config to the hard drive. I haven't tested this, but it will speed the process up greatly vs. installing, getting it on the network, and restoring from the WebGUI.